Conveying mechanism.



N 7 7 1 o. PATENTE) AUG. m, 1905.

o g 0 c. W, GRUSBY.

GONVBYNG MEGHANISM.

PPLIGATION FILED FEB. A v 3 1903 3 SHEETS-SHBET 1.

fm! y@ rzte!! No. '797,100y PATENTED AUG. 15.1905. G.'W. CROSBY.

CONVEYING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3A 1903.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

'kelk Ji" o 116g' No. 797,100. PATENTED AUG. 15, 1905.

C. W. CROSBY.

GDNVEYING MBGHANISM. APPLIGATION FILED rm. a. 190s.

3 SHEETS-*SHEET 3,

CLARENCE W. CROSBY, OF CHlCAGO, lLLlNClS.

NVEYIING MCHANISM..

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 15, 1905.

Application filed February 3, 1903. Serial No. 141,683.

.To @ZZ whom t 11i/ay concern,.-

Beit known that I, CLARENCE l/V. CROSBY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of lllinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Conveying Mechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to conveying mechanism and will be fully described hereinafter and pointed out in the claims presented herewith.

The device of my invention is useful in stationary practice and also in connection with locomotives and marine service, though the conveyer is obviously useful in very many connections.

l will explain my invention more fully by reference to the accompanying drawings, illustrating the application of the invention to Stoker practice, in which-L Figure 1 is a plan. view of the conveying and stoking mechanism, the boiler and parts associated therewith being indicated in section. Fig. 2 is a view in elevation of the conveying and steking mechanism, parts of the boiler being shown in section. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of the mechanism of my invention immediately located about the furnace-door, a portion of the conveyor being included in the illustration. Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a view on line 5 5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a sectional view through the front wall of the furnace, the door containing the deflector of my invention being open at right angles. Fig. 7 is a plan view, partially in section, of the preferred form of conveyer employed by me. Fig. 7 L is a view of the joint shown in Fig. 7 without the blades and looking in the direction of the arrow 7a. Fig. S is a view of tailbearing of the conveyor. Fig. 9 is a view illustrating a common prime mover for operating the Stoker, the conveyer, and the draftregulator.

Like parts are indicated by similar characters of reference throughout the different figures.

While the invention is shown as applied to particular mechanism and apparatus eX- pressly useful in connection with furnaces and fire-boxes, it is to be understood that this is simply one application of the invention and that said invention may have a variety of applications.

l. have illustrated as a source of coal-supply a bunker 1, within which is arranged a conveying-tube 2, that is desirably a complete tube except where the fuel is fed into the same. Where the bunker is of sufficient length, the conveying-tube is provided with a plurality of feed-openings 3 3, one of which is desirably open at a time, the remaining opening or openings being closed by the curved caps 4 4, that are interposed between the cylindrical tube and guiding-strips 5 o. Handles 6 6 project from the caps or doors 4 4 to be within reach of the fireman. By means of these handles one or the other of the doors may be closed, so that the portion of the bunker from which the coal is to be supplied to the conveying-tube may readily be selected. There is disposed within this conveying-tube a flight 7 of a conveyingscrew that may have a shaft which is hollow throughout the major portion of vits length and which at its rear end may be provided with any suitable form of tail or thrust bearing 8, as indicated in Fig. S. The front end of the flight 7 is articulated with a second flight 9 of a conveying or feeding screw, the lights 7 and 9 cooperating to advance the fuel from the bunker. The flight is provided with a tubular casing 10, that is articulated to the casing 2 at 11, preferably by a hinged joint, the connection between the casings 2 and 10 being somewhat in the nature of a trunnion connection one with the other. By means of the construction specified the conveying tube or casing l() may readily have its front end moved toward the boiler to bring the conveying-Screw into operative engagement with the Stoker (when the boilerdoor is closed) or may be moved away from the boiler when the boiler-door is to be open. ln order that the tube 10 may be lifted, it is provided with a door or movable section 12, which is moved away from the joint l 1 when the tube is to be lifted. A strap 13 may be employed, between which and tube l() the door may reciprocate. The forward end of the tube 10 is preferably closed Save for the fuel passage or spout 14, Fig. 3. The tube 10 is preferably provided with a cap that carries at its central portion a bearing 15 for the conveying-shaft 16. As specified, the shaft 16 of the conveying-screw is provided with aliangerless joint, (indicatedin its preferred form in Fig. 7,) such hangerless joint desirably being in the form'of universal joint of any well-known form. As indicated in Fig. 7, the blades of the two flights are preferably so disposed with respect to each other that the fuel is readily fed from the rear flight to the forward flight continuously. By the mechanism specified a flexible conveyer is secured, so that l am enabled to place the same in position before a furnace-door or remove the same from a furnace-door when the door is to be opened. rl`he casing or tubes 2 and 10.

are preferably of a diameter to define the axes of rotation of the conveying-nights of the conveying-screw, the blades of the screw desirably engaging the interior surfaces of the tubes 2 and 10. Thus hangers at the joint uniting the sections of conveying-screws are dispensed with. The conveying tube or casing .10 is provided with the feed-opening 14, that is adapted when the said conveyingtube is in the position illustrated to form a continuation of the inlet or spout 15, communicating with the interior of a cylindrical casing or injector-chamber 16, that is adapted to be mounted upon a skeleton door 17. The skeleton door 17 is especially designed to fit the particular furnace-opening, and to this the chamber 16 is bolted. The chamber 16 is desirably of sufficient length to contain not only the rotary stoker or injector 19, but also a prime mover 2O when such stoker is to be directly coupled with such prime mover, the prime mover desirablybeing a steam-turbine, the application of which will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. The turbine, through the agency of the shaft 21 and gearing 22, causes rotation of a shaft 23, that operates wheelgearings 24 and 25, which mechanism operates the conveyingscrews 7 and Q. rl`he rotary injector of the stoker may be directly mounted upon the shaft 21, so that the said stoker' may partake of the speed of the prime-mover wheel. The gearing interposed between thc shaft 2.1 and the conveying screw is preferably fixed so that the rate of feed of the fuel to the furnace may be properly proportioned to the rate of operation of the stoker 19. The rotary stoker preferably has only two blades that serve to inject fuel through the opening 26 into the furnace.

The deflector 27 is hinged at its rear end adjacent to the opening 26 and is caused to rise and fall through the agency of an eccentric mounting for the pitman 28, so that the forward end of the deflector is caused to raise and lower at a rate corresponding to the rate of operation of the stoker, whereby the fuel that is injected into the furnace is caused to distributed evenly from the front to rear. A crank-pin 33 is secured to the end of the shaft 16 at one side of its center, giving to said pin an eccentric motion. A clevis 32, removably secured to said pin 33,

is provided with a member 2Q, to which one end of the pitman 28 is pivoted. The eccentrically mounted pin 33 thereby imparts to the deector 27, through the pitman 28, a vertical movement for the above-described purposes. The deflector is desirably of the shape indicated most clearly in Figs.. 1, 3, and 6, the deflector in Fig. 6 being shown in an elevated condition by the mechanism that will be presently set forth. The front edge 30 of the deflector is preferably elongated, as shown in Fig. 6, the bottom face of the deflector being wedge-shaped, as indicated, in addition to having its curved shape and being rounded. The side faces of the deflector also partake of the same general direction as the bottom face of the deflector, the entire deflector serving to properly guide the fuel thrust into the opening 26 by the stoker and to distribute the same evenly laterally. The fore and aft distribution of the fuel is effected by the pitman 28 and the crank 29, the nose 30 being'elevated and lowered at a uniform speed, so that the fuel is so engaged thereby as to be caused to fall far enough back to fall by even distribution from the back to the front. The nose 30 serves to cooperate with the stoker to force the fuel with suffi cient violence upon the bed of fire within the furnace to maintain the the same broken in a manner that has been specified.

ln order that the door may be opened,l

as for kindling fires or other purposes, the spout 14 and the spout 15/ are separably united, desirably by means of some suitable catch -lever mechanism 31, Fig. 5, which may be operated when the pipe or tube 10is to be elevated to permit disconnection between the said spouts. When the tube 10 is to be elevated, the first operation is to elevate the pitman 28 sufficiently to remove the clevis 32 from engagement with the crankpin 33, placed within the shaft 16 eccentrically. After the pitman has been thus disconnected, the catch 31 having been released, the conveying-tube 10 may be elevated and the furnace-door swung open; ln order that the deector may be kept out of the path of the fireman, the pitman28 is desirably provided with a catch or hook 34, that is adapted to engage with a corresponding catch or hook 35 upon the outer wall of the chamber 16, the hooks 34 and 35 serving to hold the deflector in a vertical position. (Indicated in Fig. 6.) There are desirably provided in the face-plate 36 of the door a couple of comparatively short slots 37, through which the shanks of bolts 38 pass, these shanks carrying bearings 39 upon the interior of the furnace, in which bearing pintles 40 of the deflector are disposed. The position of the bearing with respect to the slots 37 may be determined by the nuts 41. A slight vertical adjustment of the axis of rotationlof the de- Yflector at its .pintles will produce required adjustment in the distribution of the fuel laterally of the furnace.

ln order that the draft may be regulated in proportion to the fuel-supply, an arrangement, such as indicated in Fig. S), may be employed. ln this arrangement there is used, as the preferred type of draft-blower, a fan 42, driven by the prime mover 20. The said prime mover is desirably shown in elevation, as the details thereof form no part of the present invention. This blower may be mounted upon a bracket projecting from the door 43. Such blower is desirably only used where there is no exhaust-blast.

Any well-known form of safety-valve 44 may be employed at the upper end of the tube l() to yield in the event of congestion within the tube, so that the :fuel will not pack, but will rather be discharged through the opening covered by the said valve or door 44 when subjected to abnormal pressure occasioned by tendency of the Vfuel to pack.

I believe I am the first to provide a eonveyiiig-tube adapted to be projected into a body of subdivided material that is to be fed through the conveyer and constructing the said conveying-tube with an opening in its peripheral wall, so that the material is fed into the tube without the agency of a hopper. By this construction no regulation of Vfeed is requisite, as l prefer to maintain the conveyer practically full.

While fl have shown a particular form of eonveyer, a particular form of stoking apparatus, and a particular form of dellector, all of which constitute the preferred embodiments or features of my invention, l'. do not wish to be limited to the 'precise structure illustrated, as changes may be made without departing Vfrom the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, l claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination with a conveyingtube., of a conveying-screw therein, the said conveying-tube having a plurality of openings and doors for closing the said openings whereby one or the other of the said openings may be effective in causing the admission of the material to the conveying-tube, substantially as described.

2. The combination with conveying-tubes, of conveying-screws therein :forming a continuous eonveyer, a universal joint uniting said screws, and a slidable section permitting angular adjustment between said tubes, substantially as described.

3. The combination with conveying-tubes, of conveying-screws therein forming a continuous eonveyer, a joint Vfor said screws, and a movable section permitting angular adjustment between said tubes, substantially as described.

1l. The combination with hinged conveying tubes, of flights of conveying screws therein `forming a continuous eonveyer, a universal joint uniting said flights, and a slidable section permitting angular adjustment between said tubes, substantially as described.

5. The combination with conveying-tubes, of conveying-screws therein forming a continuous eonveyer, a universal joint uniting said screws, vand a slidable section pernitting angular adjustment between said tubes, said screws filling the tubes and engaging the inner walls of the same, the said tubes thereby' serving to define the axis of rotation of said screws, substantially as described.

6. The combination with conveying-tubes, of conveying-screws therein forming a continuous eonveyer, a hangerless oint for said screws, and a slidable section permitting angular adjustment between said tubes, said screws filling the tubes and engaging the inner walls of the same, the said tubes thereby serving to define the axis of rotation of said screws, substantially as described.

7. The combination with hinged conveyingtubes, of flights of conveying-screws therein forming a continuous eonveyer, a universal j oint uniting said flights, and a slidable section permitting angular adjustment between said tubes, said screws filling the tubes and engaging the iimer walls of the same, the said tubes thereby serving to define the axis of rotation of said screws, substanti ally as described.

S. The combination with hinged conveying-tubes, of flights of conveying-screws therein 'forming a continuous eonveyer, and a universal joint uniting said flights, substantially as described.

9. The combination with conveyiiig-tubes, of flights of conveying-screws therein forming a continuous eonveyer, means permitting angular adjustment between said tubes, and means permitting angular adjustment between said screws, substantially as described..

10. The combination with hinged tubes, of flights of conveying-screws therein forming a continuous eonveyer, and a universal joint uniting said screws, said screws filling the tubes and engaging the .inner walls of the saine, the said tubes thereby serving to define the axis of rotation of said screws, substantially as described.

ll. The combination with angularly-adjustable conveying-tubes, of angularly-adj ustable conveying-screws therein forming a continuous eonveyer, said screws filling the tubes and engaging the inner walls of the same, the said tubes thereby serving to define the axis o'f rotation of said screws, substantially as described.

12. The combination with angularly-adjustable conveying-tubes, of angularly-adjustable conveying-screws therein forming a eonveyer, said screws filling the tubes and engaging the inner walls of the same, the said ing a continuous 'eoiveyer7 a universal joint uniting said screws, and a movable section permitting angular adjustment between said tubes, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 30th dayfof January, A. D. 1903.

CLARENCE W. CROSBY.

Witnesses:

GEORGE L. CRAGG, JEssIE L. DAVIS. 

